


Game Day

by AwakeAndAliveSpartan



Series: The Max!Verse AU [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: And he absolutely loves the Puppy Bowl, And he thinks dogs are the best thing ever, F/M, Grant loves dogs way more than people., which they are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 02:53:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9579308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwakeAndAliveSpartan/pseuds/AwakeAndAliveSpartan
Summary: It's the day of the biggest game of the year. And it's not the Super Bowl.Of course Grant believes the biggest game to be the Puppy Bowl.





	

“Grant, sweetheart?” Skye called, sticking her head out of the bedroom and looking down the hall. “Where are you?”

“I’m in the living room with Max.” she heard Grant say from further into the house. “I didn’t go anywhere. We’re on the couch.”

Skye sighed, figuring that Grant was watching some TV or something. Honestly, she was always afraid whenever she didn’t know where he was. The last time she didn’t know where he had gone, he had gone into town after a bad panic attack and had gotten completely and utterly drunk at the local bar. He had even left Max behind that time, which was a really bad thing for him to do.

But at least he was just in the living room this time, that really took a weight off of Skye’s chest. “Okay.” she called back out. “Mind if I join you two?”

“No, we’re just watching some TV, that’s all.”

Skye nodded to herself and she headed towards the living room, finding Grant sitting on the couch with Max’s head in his lap. The now eleven month old German shepherd was pretty much enormous and unfortunately could no longer crawl into Grant’s lap. Grant had his eyes glued to the TV screen while he threaded his fingers through the fur on Max’s head.

“Whatcha watching?” Skye asked, plopping down in the empty spot on Grant’s left side. “Football? Isn’t the Super Bowl today or something?”

Grant shook his head and narrowed his eyes as he looked at Skye, “No. And I honestly don’t care about that.” he stated lightly.

“Why? I thought you were a Patriots fan.”

Grant cringed and looked away, “Sorry, that… That was a lie when I put on that stupid cover for the team.” he admitted. “I actually hate them… Reminds me too much of home. Mom and Dad were huge fans…” he trailed off and shook his head. “I just don’t like them.”

Skye frowned and placed a hand on his thigh, “Sorry. I didn’t know that.”

“No need to apologize Skye, you didn’t know. And that was something I had lied to you about, so it’s really my fault. I don’t even know why I put up that particular facade.”

“Grant, it’s not your fault. If anything, it’s Garrett’s there. He made you put on a mask that was far from who you really were.” Skye began, looking firmly into his dulled-out eyes. She sighed and looked away, “Anyways, what are you watching?” she asked, trying to move away from the sore subject. She hadn’t meant to dig at Grant’s old scars. There was just so much that could bring up bad memories for him. 

“Animal Planet. There’s a lot about dogs on today and I wanted to watch it. Max too.” Grant stated. At the mention of his name, the black shepherd lifted his head up and looked up at Grant. He smiled back at the dog and petted his head, “He likes watching dogs on TV.”

Skye smiled, “So what’s on?” she questioned, looking to see a series of different puppies on the screen.

“Well, nothing’s on yet, but I think the Puppy Bowl is about to come on.”

She raised an eyebrow, “The Puppy Bowl?”

“It’s like the Super Bowl, but with puppies.  _ Puppies _ , Skye.” There was now a bright light in his eyes, “It can’t get any better than that.”

Skye stifled a small laugh at the sight. He was completely and utterly in awe at the concept of a bunch of puppies running around and playing together. Well, as long as it kept him calm and happy, it made her happy as well. 

It had only been about nine months since they left SHIELD and began this new life. Grant had been going to therapy every week since then, and he was far from being better. He still hated himself and frequently slipped into panic attacks. Still, he had come a long way from where he had been. He just had been far too broken and it was extremely hard for him to heal, especially after what Hive had put him through.

It was very rare to see him happy and that was because very few things made him happy. Skye made him happy, Max made him happy, a good book made him happy, working out made him happy. But perhaps the one thing that made him the happiest other than Skye or Max was dogs.

He absolutely loved dogs and the mere sight of one other than Max sent him into an overly-excited state. Skye found his enthusiasm for the animal absolutely adorable. She’d never thought that he would be such a stickler for them, mainly because he had never shown any interest in anything while he had been on the Bus. But that had been a mere cover for him and hadn’t been the true Grant Ward. The guy he was now was probably the closest thing to the real Grant Ward than he ever had been. So it wasn’t hard to believe that the real one was utterly in love with dogs.

Skye smiled and nodded, “Seems right up your alley.” she stated, reaching over and petting the top of Max’s head, receiving a pleased whine from the shepherd. “I mean, you are always either playing with Max or watching some show about dogs.”

“Well, dogs are the greatest.” Grant smiled and looked down to his best friend, giving him a pat on the head. “They won’t ever betray you or hurt you on purpose. They’re completely loyal and I love ‘em.”

Grant had really bad trust problems now after everything that had happened to him. He hated strangers and distrusted anyone that came around him. He was convinced that if they got close to him, they would just end up hurting him in the end. Just like his family and Garrett, even SHIELD in the end. So he loved to have a companion that wouldn’t forsake him.

“Grant,” Skye began, placing her hand on his thigh. “You’re safe now, I don’t think anyone is going to hurt you again. We’re away from all of that.”

He turned his head and looked back towards the TV, which was on some kind of commercial, “Yeah, but that doesn’t change the fact I like dogs better than most people. You’re probably the only exception to that.” He stroked Max’s head, “Dogs won’t try to mess with you like people will.”

Skye sighed and scooted closer to him, leaning up against his shoulder, “Like I said, we’re safe now, but I don’t blame you.” She scratched Max behind the ear, “Max is a whole lot better than any person I know. He’s a good boy.”

Max started wagging his tail, causing it to thump wildly against the couch.

“Of course he is. He’s a dog.”

“But he’s,” Skye abruptly stopped as Grant suddenly started waving his hand in front of her face.

“Shh! It’s starting!” he exclaimed, his eyes glued to the TV screen.

Skye frowned as she looked to see various puppies being shown, all of them playing on a mock football field. She looked back to Grant, seeing that he was in complete bliss. There was a huge smile on his face as he saw each puppy. Even Max was watching, that fact made Skye laugh.

There was no point in trying to talk to Grant now, she figured that she would just relax by him for the time being. Grant’s sole focus was on those puppies and that focus wouldn’t be broken until they were gone. 

It was game time now.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a fun little oneshot that I thought of since the Puppy Bowl is tomorrow! I hope that you enjoyed!


End file.
